Lovesalt Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 This hobby is a love/hate thing. I love my corals and fish but hate it when things go bad despite my efforts to care for all my little creatures. I've had a LOT of challenges since setting up my 120 last fall. Love all the room it has for larger fish and the look of its massiveness my living room, but hate giant water changes and massive top offs. My RODI is in the basement so it's a production. But then again, I Love it when people come over and are captivated. I also have a 20 IM in my office and it's such a breeze (thankfully) and makes me wish I had gone with something smaller in the living room. I can't believe I just said that...With work so busy now I am feeling like I'm chasing my tail. Hopefully my attitude will improve. I remember loving this hobby. Can't really share this with the family because they just look at me like "well you're the one who did it to yourself" [emoji58] Anyone else go thru this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I think we all go through this when our tank is not doing well. I had my nuvo for a year and loved the ease of care and I didn't need a stool to get into it but I love the room of my Red Sea 250 and having sump. if the maintenance is getting to you , switch to softies. The pioneer school tank could go one to 2 months without a water change because it has mostly euphyillia and it looked great! right now I'm dosing and doing more sps but if it gets to be too much then you may see a sale thread and I will go back to weekly water changes with less calcium sucking corals!? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Definitely been there. Maintenance can be such a headache. Having the DT in a publicly visible place vs an office sure keeps the pressure on as well to keep it spotless! I chipped away at automation knowing that I run hot and cold on stuff. For the cold periods when life is pulling me in other directions automation helps keep the tank on track. Make a plan to get that ATO automated as a first step. You will be loving it when it comes online. Regarding water changes.. Allot of tanks are running on little to no water changes these days. Despite an automated system for that as well I do them just a few times a year myself. If you google around on that topic there are some interesting read Hang in there, the highs are worth getting through the lows. All the best - reef - on... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Oh you are sooooooo no alone in this!! I just tore down my 60 gallon and went to a 25 lagoon just for simplicity. I say stick it out! You will regret tearing it down. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovesalt Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 I won't tear it down but I might be open to a trade [emoji12]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovesalt Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 Oh you are sooooooo no alone in this!! I just tore down my 60 gallon and went to a 25 lagoon just for simplicity. I say stick it out! You will regret tearing it down. Sent from my SM-G928V using TapatalkWas your 60 a Red Sea Reefer?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Was your 60 a Red Sea Reefer?Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkNo it was the shallow 48x24x12 Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ReefBox Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Suzie you will get through this. Remeber the saying I reeling, "nothing good happens fast" so take a breath kid.....you got this. I was so with you just not to long ago. It seemed like nothing could go right. Now my tank is rockin and I got some fire cooking in there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugots Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 6 hours ago, Lovesalt said: Love all the room it has for larger fish and the look of its massiveness my living room, but hate giant water changes and massive top offs. My RODI is in the basement so it's a production. Hi Lovesalt, I hear you on the maintenance issues. But as I am not even running a tank right now, I miss even the less fun stuff. I have some time on my hands and would be willing to help if you're up for it. I'm thinking about starting up a little tank sitting/maintenance service as I research and plan my next build. Seeing other people's systems is fascinating to me, and I like to be helpful. Let me know if there's anything I can do. Best, Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamburgb Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Man I'm right there with you feeling defeated. I have been fighting my tank trying to keep sps since last June. I had a lot of sps colonies that were growing good and then when we had the first heat wave last year the AC in my house was broke and I tried everything to keep my tank cool (aside from buying a chiller I know I should have). But I lost about $500-800 in SPS, since then I haven't been able to keep any sps and seems like my parameters are always fluctuating. Then this last week I left for vacation and came back to 5 fish missing and 3 sps bleached all parameters seems find still not sure what happened.. and very very tempted to take down my 180 gallon tank and turn it into a fresh water community tank and just have a 40gallon reef set up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 In the same boat as everyone else here. If I recall correctly, I think your current 120 went up about the same time as mine last fall and it just now seems to be settling in somewhat. Already went through one fish crash (largely self inflicted), a major leak and equipment failures that all had me questioning my sanity and commitment but I still love the look of the tank and being able to spend time just watching all the various aspects of a captive ecosystem playing out in my dinning room. Give it a bit more time and once things start hitting their stride I am sure you will be thankful you did! I do like Jeremy's suggestion though - the more automation you can achieve the lower the overall stress level seems to be and the more time you can spend focusing on the "cool" aspects of having a large tank. Now getting there... that is another story! Good luck and hang in there! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugots Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Sorry for your losses @bamburgb. That really sucks! I read an article on stability of parameters. It had some interesting info, focusing on source water but also addressing some other issues. You probably know these things already but I thought it might in some small way be helpful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovesalt Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 Hi Lovesalt, I hear you on the maintenance issues. But as I am not even running a tank right now, I miss even the less fun stuff. I have some time on my hands and would be willing to help if you're up for it. I'm thinking about starting up a little tank sitting/maintenance service as I research and plan my next build. Seeing other people's systems is fascinating to me, and I like to be helpful. Let me know if there's anything I can do. Best, NickI'd like some feedback if you want to come by!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovesalt Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 Sorry for your losses [mention=15534]bamburgb[/mention]. That really sucks! I read an article on stability of parameters. It had some interesting info, focusing on source water but also addressing some other issues. You probably know these things already but I thought it might in some small way be helpful. Thanks for the article. I found one thing very interesting. The PH chasing paragraph. Notably, paying attention to source water PH. Very informative.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugots Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 That would be great. Would late Friday afternoon work for you? I'll PM my contact info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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